Blocher continues to earn honors

Friday

Jun 7, 2013 at 5:29 PMJun 7, 2013 at 5:31 PM

To follow up his Academic All-District selection a few weeks ago, sophomore Brian Blocher of the Southern Virginia University men’s tennis team has been named to the 2013 Capital One Academic All-America College Division Men’s At-Large Third Team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

by Sean Dunn/Special to The Oak Ridger

To follow up his Academic All-District selection a few weeks ago, sophomore Brian Blocher of the Southern Virginia University men’s tennis team has been named to the 2013 Capital One Academic All-America College Division Men’s At-Large Third Team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

Blocher is originally from Oak Ridge and played at Webb School.

“I’m very proud of Brian for earning such a nationally recognized academic honor,” said fifth-year head coach Tony Caputo. “He is a prime example of what a scholar-athlete at Southern Virginia should strive for.”

To be eligible for Academic All-America consideration, a scholar-athlete must serve as a key contributor to the squad and maintain at least a cumulative 3.3 grade point average. The All-America teams are separated by NCAA Divisions I, II, III and the College Division — which is comprised of NAIA, two-year and independent institutions.

Blocher had a solid 2012-13 campaign helping the Knights to a 7-8 team record this season. The second-year Knight finished with an overall 7-7 mark in singles competition, including a 6-2 record at the No. 3 position.

In his rookie year, Blocher was 8-6 in singles matches as a freshman for a 2011-12 squad that finished 15-1, which not only set the mark for best record in program history but also the best single-season winning percentage (.938) of any athletic team in Southern Virginia history.

In addition to becoming the first academic all-district selection in men's tennis history, Blocher is the third Knight to be nominated to the Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-America team — with brothers Chris and Bryce Pendleton earning first and second team honors in 2007-08 and 2008-09, respectively.